Population 19,385 (2011) Community Grangetown Country Wales Dialling code 029 Post town Cardiff | OS grid reference ST1774 Principal area Cardiff Sovereign state United Kingdom Ceremonial county Cardiff UK parliament constituency Cardiff South and Penarth | |
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Grange pavilion grangetown cardiff
Grangetown (Welsh: usually Grangetown, also Trelluest) is a district and community in the south of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It is one of the largest districts in the south of the city and is bordered by Riverside, Canton and Butetown. The River Taff winds its way through the area. Adjacent to the city's Cardiff Bay area, Grangetown is benefitting from the nearby developments and is experiencing a period of gentrification and improvements in its infrastructure. Its population as of 2011 was 19,385 in 8,261 households. It was known as one of the "5 towns of Cardiff", the others being Butetown, Crockhertown, Newtown and Temperance Town.
Contents
- Grange pavilion grangetown cardiff
- Map of Grangetown UK
- Taff terrace grangetown cardiff 245 000 freehold
- History and name
- Government
- Places of worship
- The Welsh language
- Tramshed
- Library
- Leisure centres
- Parks and gardens
- Public houses and clubs
- Shopping
- Education
- Festivals and events
- Sport and leisure
- Notable people
- Transport
- TV and Film
- Recent changes
- References
Map of Grangetown, UK
Grangetown is a diverse and multiracial district and has a significant population of Somali, Asian and mixed-race residents. It is home to a Swaminarayan Temple and various mosques including the newly built Abu Bakkar mosque.
Taff terrace grangetown cardiff 245 000 freehold
History and name
Until the mid-19th-century Grangetown was an area of marshy land used for farming. It appears to have been granted to the Cistercian abbey of Margam Abbey sometime at the end of the twelfth century. The monks established a monastic grange there which they held until they were expelled in around 1290 by Gilbert de Clare, Lord of Glamorgan. They were restored to their lands in 1329 and held them until the dissolution of the monasteries.
The grange was named after the 'moor' or saltmarsh upon which it stood, giving rise to English forms such as 'More Grange' and 'Grangemoor' and French equivalents such as 'La Grange de Mora'.
By the fifteenth century the grange was being farmed to laymen. The last farmer was a landowner called Lewis ap Richard who is also known as a patron of the Welsh-language poet Rhys Brychan. After the dissolution, the grange remained in the hand of Lewis's descendants. Lewis's son, Edward Lewis, also a noted patron of Welsh poets, settled at the Van near Caerphilly. The grange remained in the hands of the Lewises of the Van when they moved to St Fagans Castle during the 1610s. The Lewis estates eventually passed through an heiress into the hands of Other Lewis Windsor (1731–1771), 4th Earl of Plymouth. The grange was farmed by a succession of tenants into the twentieth century.
The farmhouse, known as Grange Farm, still exists today but is now surrounded by streets of terraced brick houses, which were built to house the many workers who moved to Cardiff to work in the industrial boom of the 19th century, particularly centered on the docks. The farmhouse dates in part from the sixteenth century.
The name Grangetown is also the usual form in Welsh. The variants Y Grange (dating back to the nineteenth century) and Y Grênj (equivalents of The Grange) are sometimes seen. Owen John Thomas has used the form Y Grange Mawr (literally, 'the great grange', though perhaps influenced by the English Grange Moor). The names Trelluest (Welsh tre 'town' + lluest 'lodge'), Trefaenor (tre + maenor 'manor') and Trefynach (tre + mynach 'monk') appear to be recent coinages. Gwyddoniadur Cymru, the Welsh-language version of the Encyclopaedia of Wales, uses Grangetown, but notes the existence of Trelluest.
Grangetown developed after 1850, the year Penarth Road and the bridges over the River Taff and River Ely were constructed, linking Cardiff with Penarth. In 1857 Baroness Windsor (whose Plymouth Estate owned the land) obtained an Act of Parliament to build housing in the area, intending to call it The Grange. Grangetown became a suburb of Cardiff in 1875. The area was low lying and subject to flooding. In 1883 the sea flooded parts of Grangetown to a depth of five feet.
Samuel Arthur Brain, the founder of Brains Brewery, was elected to Cardiff Council in 1885 to represent Grangetown.
Grangetown's original public library on Redlaver Street was built 1900–1901 in the Tudor Gothic style. It has now been sold to developers and converted into flats.
Cardiff's popular pastries, Clark's Pies, arrived in Grangetown in 1955 when Dennis Dutch (great-grandson of Mary & Arthur Clark) opened a shop in Bromsgrove Street. The shop still trades today.
Government
The Grangetown electoral ward returns three local councillors to Cardiff Council. Grangetown is part of the Cardiff South and Penarth constituency which returns one MP to the UK Parliament and one AM to the National Assembly for Wales.
Places of worship
Grangetown has at least ten Christian places of worship including Grangetown Baptist Church and the Salvation Army citadel as well as a Hindu temple on Merches Place, mosque called Masjid Abu Bakr on Clydach Street and newly built Masjid called Markaz At-Tawheed on Penarth road.
The church of St Paul, Paget Street, was built between 1889 and 1902, largely at the expense of Lord Windsor. It uses an "eccentric" palette of materials including pennant rubble, pink sandstone and Portland cement. The architect was John Coates Carter, a distinguished Arts & Crafts designer.
St Patrick's Church is the Roman Catholic place of worship for the neighbourhood.
St Dyfrig and St Sampson, Pentre Gardens, dates from 1911.
The Welsh language
The number of Grangetown residents over three years old who speak Welsh has grown from 1,217 (8.9%) in the 2001 UK Census to 1,867 (10.2%) in the 2011 UK Census. This equates to over 15% of the total increase in Welsh speakers in Cardiff, despite Grangetown having only 5.6% of Cardiff's population.
Grangetown was the location of the first Welsh-medium primary school class in Cardiff and the former county of Glamorgan. This class opened in 1949 with 8 pupils in what is now Ninian Park Primary School, an event commemorated by a plaque in the school's foyer. A Welsh-medium primary school, Ysgol Tan-yr-eos, was opened on the same site in 2006. This school was closed in 2013 and children in Welsh-medium education will be schooled in either Ysgol Gymraeg Pwll Coch or Ysgol Gymraeg Treganna, both in Canton. Plans for a new Welsh-medium school in Grangetown were withdrawn by Cardiff Council in July 2013.
Tramshed
A Cardiff music and entertainment venue that opened in October 2015. The Tramshed is housed in a converted tram depot, dating from 1902 and Grade II listed. The music venue has a capacity of 1000 people.
Library
The Grangetown Library opened in 2007 on Havelock Place. This has since been renovated and turned into the The Hub (Yr Hyb in Welsh), this essentially provides the same services as the library but also allows residents of the area access to more council services.
Leisure centres
Parks and gardens
Four public parks are in the district: Grange Gardens, Sevenoaks Park, the Marl, and Grangemoor Park. Grangemoor Park was created on top of a rubbish tip and opened in 2000.
Public houses and clubs
There are one public houses in the district and a number of licensed social clubs.
Shopping
The district has three post offices. A reasonable number of small local shops are centred on Penarth Road and Corporation Road. In addition, the Cardiff Bay Retail Park is home to a number of superstores.
Education
Festivals and events
Grangetown Festival take place for a week in June each year. It began in 1978 and is organised by Grangetown Community Concern. The festival culminates in a parade through the streets, ending in Grange Gardens where a carnival takes place.
The 'Roxe Jam' hip-hop and graffiti festival takes place annually in Sevenoaks Park, Grangetown, on the last weekend of July. The first festival was in July 2008. The event was set up in memory of a young graffiti writer, Bill Lockwood aka Roxe, who was killed in a road accident. The main highlight of the event is the legal painting of a 140 m long wall which runs parallel to the Cardiff to Penarth railway line. The festival last took place in 2012.
Sport and leisure
It is home of Grange Albion and Grange Catholics, two of British baseball's most successful teams. Both play their home games at Sevenoaks Park. Grange Albion celebrated its centenary in 2007.
Notable people
Transport
Grangetown railway station is located on the Vale of Glamorgan Line from Cardiff Central to Bridgend via Barry, Rhoose Cardiff International Airport and Llantwit Major, with branch lines serving Penarth and Barry Island.
Cardiff Bus operates the following services in the area:
Penarth Road (A4160) is the main road running through the area northeastbound to Cardiff city centre and southwest bound to Llandough, Dinas Powys, Penarth and Barry. The Ferry Road Interchange on the Grangetown Link Road (A4232) links to the M4 J33 (Cardiff West).
TV and Film
The parish church of St Paul, Paget Street, was used as the location for the BBC's 'Doctor Who' series episode entitled Father's Day. In the story the church is attacked by monsters called 'Reapers' while a wedding is about to commence. Filming took place on location in November 2004.
Recent changes
In North Grangetown Renewal Area, Cardiff Council is investing in the future of Grangetown by improving the area. This includes repairs to the roads and pavements, planting of trees and the creation of a new public open space, Gerddi Courtmead Gardens, parallel to Hereford Street.